The Epic of Zaynab Kubra

Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.) is a great woman. What does the greatness of this great woman come from in the eyes of the nations of the Muslim world? It cannot be said that it is because she is the daughter of ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (P.B.U.H.) or the sister of Ḥusayn b. ‘Alī and Ḥasan b. ‘Alī (P.B.U.T.). Relationships can never create such greatness. All our Imams (P.B.U.T.) had daughters, mothers, and sisters, but where is one like Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.)? The value and greatness of Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.) is because of her great humanitarian and Islamic stance and movement. Her work, her decision, and her type of movement endued her this greatness. Whoever does such a thing, even if that person is not the daughter of Imam ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.), can achieve greatness. Much of this greatness is firstly because she understood the situation; both the situation before Imam Ḥusayn’s (P.B.U.H.) leaving for Karbalā and the situation of the critical moments on the day of ‘Āshūrā, as well as the situation of the fatal incidents after the martyrdom of Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.); and secondly, because she made a choice according to each situation. These choices are what made Zaynab (P.B.U.H.).
Before proceeding toward Karbalā, elites like Ibn ‘Abbās, Ibn Ja‘far, and other prominent figures of early Islam, who claimed to be jurisprudent, brave, superior, and the sons of noble men, and so on were baffled and did not know what to do. But Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.) was not baffled and knew that she must follow this path, and must not leave her Imam alone, and she didn’t. Not that she could not understand that this path is a difficult one. She felt this more than other people. She was a woman, a woman who was separated from her husband and family for a mission and it was also for this reason that she took her young children along with herself. She felt how this incident would be. In those critical hours, when the strongest of human beings cannot understand what to do, she knew what to do and she supported her Imam and prepared him for martyrdom. After the martyrdom of Ḥusayn b. ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.), the world became dark, the hearts and souls and the horizons in the world became dark. This great woman became a light and radiated everywhere. Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) reached a point that can only be reached by the most sublime human beings in the history of mankind–that is, the prophets (P.B.U.T.).
1991/13/11
Indeed, Karbalā was not Karbalā without Zaynab (P.B.U.H.); Without Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.) that historical incident called ‘Āshūrā would not have remained (in the memories of the people). The character of the daughter of Imam ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) is so evident and obvious in this incident, from its beginning to the end, that one feels as if she is a second Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.) in a woman’s guise, in the guise of the daughter of Imam ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.). Apart from this, if Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) did not exist what would have happened after ‘Āshūrā? Imam Sajjād (P.B.U.H.) might also have been killed; Imam Ḥusayn’s (P.B.U.H.) message might not have reached any body. In the same period, which was also before the martyrdom of Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.), Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) was like a truthful sympathizer, the person by means of her being, Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.) would not have felt alone, he would not have felt tired. Mankind witnesses such an obligation in Zaynab’s (P.B.U.H.) face and in Zaynab’s (P.B.U.H.) words and movement.
Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) felt anxious twice and told Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.) about her anxiety. Once it was in one of the halting places, after the event of the news of the martyrdom of Muslim b. ‘Aqīl after the Imam (P.B.U.H.) came and gave an account of some things and different news was being received. After all, Ḥaḍrat Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) is of course a woman with effervescent feminine emotions, with delicate feelings of a woman; and the epitome of effervescent feelings as well. These were the household of the holy Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.); yet with the same firmness, with the same power, with the same bravery, with the same resistance in passion; the epitome of a clear, ebullient fountain of human subtlety, human compassion again from this household. The source of ebullient and humanity, merciful to mankind all are from this family which Ḥusayn b. ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) can, in my opinion be an example of that person who stands against an opposing world, resisting a desert [full] of hungry wolves alone and his body does not shudder, and becomes moved by small things. For example, the time when that black Ethiopian slave fell down, the Imam (P.B.U.H.) came to this slave. Well, he is a black slave and is among the faithful; he is among the lovers of the Imam (P.B.U.H.). Perhaps he was Jawn, Abū Dhar’s servant, who, in terms of social status, the social culture of those days, does not have an honorable and excellent position, even though he does not have a very high status among the Muslims. This (person), when he was killed [the Imam (P.B.U.H.) came to his side]–well many were killed, were martyred alongside Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.), nobles of Kūfa, elders, and scholars of Kūfa, like Ḥabīb b. Muāhir and Zuhayr b. Qain and others who were among the elders and renown figures of Kūfa; they fell down, the Imam (P.B.U.H.) did not show this move. The Imam (P.B.U.H.) addressed Muslim b. ‘Awsaja and said, “By the will of Allah you will get a reward from Him”–but regarding this black servant who does not have any body, does not have a child, no family is awaiting him, so that they can weep for him. Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.), came and did the same with this servant as he did with ‘Alī Akbar. The Imam (P.B.U.H.) sat near his head and put this bloody head on his knees. But his heart did not calm down. All of a sudden everybody saw the Imam (P.B.U.H.) stoop down and put his face on the face of this black servant. This is how human compassion overflows! Therefore, Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) is a woman with overflowing compassion and feelings; then, she is not an ordinary woman. She is the sister of Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.), a sister who loves Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.), and a sister who abandoned her husband, abandoned her family and came along with the Imam (P.B.U.H.). She did not come alone; she brought her sons, ‘Awn and Muḥammad, along too. I presume that ‘Abdullāh b. Ja‘far did not even agree that his children come. I am not certain that ‘Abdullāh agreed, but Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) brought them, just for them to be with her in the path of Allah so that if there were supposed to be any self-sacrifice, they would also be martyred.
Now, in one of the halting places along the way she felt that the situation was dangerous; she went to Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.) and said to him in one of the halting places along the way, “Brother! I feel endangered, I see the situation as being dangerous”. She knows that the case is a case of martyrdom and captivity; yet and at the same time the agitation of these incidents place her under so much pressure that she goes to Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.). Here the Imam (P.B.U.H.) did not tell her much. He said, “It is nothing, whatever Allah wills the same will happen.” Something like this, «مَا شَاءَ الله كَان» [What Allah has willed will be], that is, whatever Allah wants will happen. We see nothing else of Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.) telling Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.) or of her asking him any question, or of her feeling any pressure in her soul that she has passed on to Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.), except on the eve of ‘Āshūrā.
The evening of ‘Āshūrā is the very time when it could be said that Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.) may have become restless from the intensity of grief. He–the narrator of this story is Imam Sajjād (P.B.U.H.) who was ill–related, “I was asleep in the tent, my aunt Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) was beside me, too, and was taking care of me. In the tent next to mine, where my father, Abū ‘Abdillāh was sitting, and Jawn–Abū Dhar’s servant–was repairing the Imam’s (P.B.U.H.) sword; he was preparing himself for the battle that was to take place the following day. He says, “All of a sudden, I saw my father began to croon and recited some poems the meaning of which is that the world has turned away and the human beings life will not last and death is closer;
«يا دَهر اُفٍّ لَكَ مِن خَليلِ كَم لَكَ بِالإشراقِ وَ الأصِيل»
[O’ mystery of time! Fie on your friendship; how many of our friends and supporters [of right] you have killed in the night and day!]
This shows that whoever is reciting this poem is sure that he is going to depart this world very soon and at an imminent hour. Imam Sajjād (P.B.U.H.) says, “I have heard this poem, and I understand the message and the meaning of this poem. I understand that Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.) is informing of his own death, but I controlled myself. Suddenly I looked and saw my aunt Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) had become very upset, stood up, and went to her brother’s tent and said, ‘My dear brother! I see that you are talking of your own death. Until now we contented ourselves by being with you. When our father passed away we said our brothers are still around. When my brother Imam Ḥasan (P.B.U.H.) was martyred I said my brother, Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.) is still alive. For so many years I contented myself by knowing that you are around, I relied on you, and today I see that you also give news of your own death’.”
Of course Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.) has all the right to be upset. I think that the situation in which Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) found herself on that day was an exceptional one. We cannot compare the situation of any of the women or even that of Imam Sajjād (P.B.U.H.) with the situation of Zaynab (P.B.U.H.). Her situation, Zaynab’s (P.B.U.H.) situation, was difficult and unbearable. All of the men were martyred on the day of ‘Āshūrā. On the evening of ‘Āshūrā there was no other man in all of the tents except Imam Sajjād (P.B.U.H.), who was sick; he lay there or perhaps he was in a coma. Now you see these tents and campsite that contains eighty, eighty-four women and children and are besieged by an ocean of enemies, see how much work they have to do. Some are thirsty, some are hungry, or it could be said that all are hungry, all are thirsty. All hearts are shaky and terrified, the corpses of the martyrs, all amputated, having fallen on the ground. Some of them are their brothers, some are their sons. Anyway, it is a very bitter and horrifying incident. One person must gather this crowd and that one person is Zaynab (P.B.U.H.).
It was not only that Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) had lost her brother, or her two children, or her other brothers or all these dear ones and the eighteen youths of the Banī Hāshim and loyal companions. That was also the case and perhaps its importance was not less than [the fact] that among all these enemies she had the heavy responsibility of handling, protecting, and managing of the defeated, scattered, and dispersed pavilion. She was even obliged to handle (the affairs of) Imam Sajjād (P.B.U.H.). Therefore, only Allah knows what was happening to Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.) in the few hours after this incidence occurred until the hour they moved out and left and it became clear what the enemy would do with them; Allah knows how it came to pass on Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) in those few hours of the dark and difficult night that they were among the enemy. Therefore, it was Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) who during this period was continually moving about, running to this child and to that woman, to that bereaved mother, to that sister who had lost her brother and that small baby. She is continually moving among these individuals; she gathers them and comforts them. But at a certain point she becomes weary and speaks to her brother, she turns toward her martyred brother who was her only resort and refuge. In a Ḥadīth, it is narrated that Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.) stood above the murdered, wounded, and chopped up corpse of her brother and from the bottom of her heart shouted:
«يا مُحمّداه صَلَّى عَلَيكَ مَلائِكَةُ السَّماء»
[O’ Muḥammad! The angels of Heaven send their blessings upon you];
«هذا الحُسَينُ بالعراءِ مُرَمَّلٌ بِالدّماء مقطع الاعضاء»
[This is Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.) covered with blood]. This killed person fallen on the ground covered with blood, is your Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.).
1984/12/10
It is said that on the day of ‘Āshūrā, in the incident of Karbalā blood emerged victorious over the sword–which it really did–Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) was the cause of this victory; otherwise the blood (of the martyrs) would have been wasted in Karbalā. This military incident ended in the so-called defeat of the army of truth in the arena of ‘Āshūrā; but what caused this so-called military defeat to become a decisive permanent victory included the disposition of Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.); a role that Ḥaḍrat Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) assumed; this is the most important of all. This incidence shows that the female is not on the sideline of history, the female is involved in the circumstances that form the setting for important historical events.
The Qur’an also talks about these cases on different occasions. However, this is related to the recent history, not to the past nations; it is a live and tangible incident that one observes Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.) appearing with stunning and radiant greatness. She does something that the enemy, that apparently has won this military campaign and that he seems to have eradicated his opponents and is leaning on the throne of victory at the seat of his power, becomes humiliated and crushed in the palace of his rule. She imprints the mark of everlasting shame on the enemy’s forehead and turns his victory into defeat; this is the work of Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.). Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) showed that she can turn womanly veils and chastity into a combative valor, into a great jihād.
What has been left behind of Zaynab Kubrā’s (P.B.U.H.) statements and is available for us today shows the greatness of Zaynab Kubrā’s (P.B.U.H.) movement. Zaynab Kubrā’s (P.B.U.H.) unforgettable sermon in the bazaar of Kūfa is not a normal talk, it is not the usual remarks of a great personality; it is a great analysis of the conditions of the Muslim society of that period that have been stated with most beautiful words, with the deepest and richest concepts, under those conditions. See the strength of this personality, how strong this personality is.
Two days earlier, they had killed her brother, her Imam, her leader, and all these loved ones and youth and children, and others in a desert. They captured tens of people in this gathering; among whom are women and children. They brought them before the people, on camels of captivity. The people have come, they are watching them; some are cheering, some are crying. In such critical conditions, this great sun suddenly rises; she uses the same tone that her father, Amīr al-Mu’minīn (P.B.U.H.) used when he mounted the minbar (pulpit) of the Caliphate in front of the people. She spoke in the same manner and with the same kinds of words and the same elocution and eloquence and the same clearness and meaning:
«يا أهلَ الكُوفَةِ، يا أهلَ الغَدْر و الخَتْلِ»
[O’ the people of Kūfa! O’ the people of deceitfulness and disloyalty].
O’ deceitful people, O’ those who pretended, perhaps you, yourselves also believed that you are the followers of Islam and the household of the holy Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.), but you failed this test like this; in sedition you showed you did not have insight:
«ألا وَ هَل فيكُم إلّا الصَّلِفُ وَ النَّطِفُ وَ مَلْقُ الإماءِ، وَ غَمْزُ الأعداء؟»
[No one among you except the arrogant, the valueless, and the enticing wink of enemies].
Your behavior and your tongue were not one with your hearts. You became too proud of yourselves and thought that you have the faith. You thought that you are still revolutionary, you thought that you are the followers of Amīr al-Mu’minīn, whereas the fact of the matter was not so. You could not cope with the sedition and you could not save yourselves.
«فما مَثلكُم كالّتي نَقَضَتْ غَزلَها مِن بَعدِ قُوّةٍ أنكاثاً»
[Your example is like the one who would undo her yarn, breaking it up after (spinning it to) strength.]
You have become like the person who spins wool, turns it into thread and then breaks up the thread again and turns it back into wool or unspun cotton. By lacking discretion, by not recognizing the atmosphere, by not distinguishing the truth from falsehood, you have made your deeds and your past futile. Appearance is the appearance of having faith, a mouth full of claims of being a revolutionary; but inside, the inside is hollow, an inside without resistance to crosswinds. This is pathological.
With this strong speech, with these impressive words, especially under these difficult circumstances, she would speak like this. It was not that a number of listeners were sitting in front of Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.) listening to her, and she, too, like a preacher was giving a sermon. No, a group of the enemy, the enemy’s lancers had surrounded her. A group of people with different conditions were present; that same group of people who handed Muslim b. ‘Aqīl over to Ibn Zīyād, that same group of people who had written letters to Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.) and later breached their pact; that same group of people who hid in their homes on the day they were supposed to fight against Ibn Zīyād, they were the same people who were in the bazaar of Kūfa. A group of them were also people that showed weakness of spirit, now they also watch, they see the daughter of Amīr al-Mu’minīn (P.B.U.H.); they cry.
Ḥaḍrat Zaynab Kubrā (P.B.U.H.) faced with that same group of discordant and unreliable people, but she spoke firmly like this. She is a woman of history; this woman is not a weakling. A woman cannot be considered to be a weakling. This essence of female piety introduces herself in difficult circumstances in this manner. It is this woman that is a role model; a role model for all the great men of the world and great women of the world. She pathologizes the Prophetic revolution and the ‘Alawite revolution; she says that you people were not able to discern the truth in this sedition; you could not carry out your responsibility; the result was that the head of the dear child of the holy Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) was placed on top of the spearhead. Here, the greatness of Zaynab (P.B.U.H.) can be understood.
2010/21/04